Raven Rose
by KimiXRai-alwaysandforverer
Summary: Afina wakes on a stormy night to find her best friend had dissapeared, she braves the stormy night to go in searchm but when she followed by some strange man and is knocked out she wakes in a place unknown to her,is she safe,what of the husky she befriend


Darkness…

Darkness….in a sky choked by the many clouds that blanketed it. Great black and grey clouds looming boldly in a restless sky, obscuring the moon from view, there was no light to speak of save for the occasional blindingly bright white flashes of lightning. All was so quiet except for the crashes of thunder, the roaring of a heavy, monsoon like down pour of rain. Grass drooped pitifully from the force of the driving rain and ferocity of the wind, mud became sludge like from the down pour.

Yet despite this horrendous night people were fast asleep and sleeping peacefully. One person in particular a young girl of nineteen lay in her bed, cuddled up to a thick, soft body pillow, snuggled beneath the soft eiderdown quilt which was right up to her chin , eyes covered by a sleeping mask. She was warm, soft and content as she slept in the foetus position. It was said those who slept in this position though their exterior appears tough they are sensitive at heart, which was just like the sleeping girl.

Now she began to stir as the tempest outside grew worse hurling rain heavily at her window, Slowly she woke and slid the mask off opening her eyes, a blinding flash and thunder growl startling her, for thunder and lighting storms were her second biggest fear, she sat up quickly and looked over to the near by mattress set on the floor, her friend would be slumbering there, he to feared such storms, but the covers were askew and the bed empty. She felt irrational fear and concern strike her to the very heart, for her best friend would never leave his bed on such a night. Pushing the quilt it folded neatly back, she turned in the bed swinging her legs around and down until her feet touched the floor and she stood up. She was not a tall girl, quiet small in fact at just five foot one, she tried not to think about this fact though she hated her height or lack there of. Glancing down she gave her night dress a cursatory look it was an ankle length white silk night dress the bodiced upper half was tight the skirt loose so it was flowy, it was trimmed at the neckline, and skirt ends with black lace.

Stepping forward she moved through the room her bare feat padding across the soft thick carpet coloured like the black cherries she loved. She was slim and pale skinned and the long hair that reached the bottom of her back was dyed black and braided. It swished back and forth and so did the nightdress, which caught the light of each flash. Reaching her bedroom door the girl took a deep breath, opened it and stepped out in to the hall closing the door behind her and began to travel the dark long hall way.

After an attempt to put the light on she'd found the power was out and grumbled crossly about having to find a light. She occasionally passed windows which shed a split second of light with the lightning flashes. It was a warm night with an odd pressured feeling to the atmosphere. In no time at all she reached the stairs and headed to the ground floor.

She was nervous, felt apprehensive, and worried, then she felt the cold air heard a continuous banging spotted the front door wide open on its hinges and banging violently off the wall. She hurried to it and called out

"Leon"

She called but the wind snatched away her words. Feeling compelled to go outside she headed to a cupboard grabbing a torch and not bothering with a coat for she just wanted to find her friend, she switched the torch on and hurried outside, right out in to the horrific storm.

It took seconds before she was soaked to the bone, night dress clinging coldly to her slim figure. Still she carried on along the winding country lane leading to and from her house. Each thunder roar made her nervous as did each flash of light, her nerves were on edge. Walking was difficult the mud was appallingly slick, thick and hazardous. She often slid in it. Still after a mile there was no sign of her friend. She began to pass a forest a dark menacing one with black gnarled trees. The shadows within were deep, her nerves worsened and she hurried up. It seemed she wondered along for hours calling out and looking only for it to be in vain, and then the strange noises began. Shuffling footsteps, a loud scrapping an odd tapping bang. She grew continuously more nervous. Then a very strong flash of light lit the entire area and she turned to the source of the sound, a figure stood there tall, but that wasn't what caused her negative reaction, the figure's appearance especially his face made her open her mouth wide in a terrified scream which drowned out the noise of a heavy falling tree branch. Said branch hit her viciously from behind right across the back, shoulders and back of her head so hard that she fell, face first unconscious in to the mud before her. The figure giving an unnerving laugh shuffled fast towards her, looming over her its big hand reaching, reaching down for her………

Drip, drip, drip, what's that irritating noise, where's it coming from, those were the girls first thought's as she began to wake from being rendered unconscious. Then it dawned on her that it was eerily quite and their was no rain falling, the ground under was not sludgy and muddy it was cold, hard and solid, opening her eyes slowly, groaning in protest at the pain that chose to ricochet through her skull she sat up. She was no longer outside, no she was in a gloomy, chilled room, and the air here was musty, it smelt odd. Standing up something brushed the top of her head and she realised with horror she was in a cage, their was a rusty weak padlock on the door, Reaching an arm through the bars she grabbed the lock tugging and twisting but it was no use, so she tried kicking the door, still it didn't work, so in a desperate attempt she began ramming it with her shoulder, the lock suddenly broke and snapped off and the door was thrown open throwing her on to the flagged stone floor, jarring the shoulder she had been ramming the door with. For a few moments she lay there winded and partially stunned then pushed to her feet. Then she noted her nightdress was dry though mud stained and she realised she'd been out cold a while. She began to look around, their was a long low wooden table against one wall covered with pieces of meat and a meat clever, their was something odd about the meat…chains with hooks hung from the ceiling with slabs of meat with fresh blood dripping from them, so that explained the noise then. Her shoulder was in pain but she blocked it out and headed to some stairs, ascending them she found they led out in to a courtyard where a vast mansion stood looking ominous as it was still night time. There was no doubt in her mind as she admitted…she would have to go in and find someone to ask for help. And so the girl made her way over to the mansion and ascended a long flight of stairs. At the top was a door, opening the door she went in and closed the door behind her. She found herself in a bedroom.

The Lights were on in the room. The room was very big, you could probably fit three times her own bedroom in to it, it had a large four poster mahogany bed with a canopy in a pale colour draped all around it for privacy, she stuck her head through the canopy, the bed had black silk covers and pillow cases, their were many pillows. The walls were pale, the lower half bordered in mahogany wood paneling.

The carpet was thick and cherry coloured. A mahogany wardrobe stood in one corner near the bed which ran along the back wall. Then she Noticed another door at the opposite end of the room, she walked over to it and opened it, it led in to the en-suite bathroom which was very big as well, it had a large deep bath made of marble in grey and white, the taps were gold, their was a matching sink, a white toilet, in one corner their was a large walk in shower with glass screen doors their was a curtain you could pull around, which was white and finally a Jacuzzi made of burgundy marble. The bedroom and bathroom were elegant. Walking back out she jumped in surprise and gave a little startled scream not expecting to find the women who now stood their by the bed.

"The master told me to see you were alright….miss, there are plenty of clothes in the wardrobe for you"

Her voice was flat and emotionless, and she was dressed like an old fashioned maid, wearing the black and white uniform that had long ago passed out of style for a maid to wear. Strange was what the girl thought, what a strange thing to wear such an outfit, surely such outfits were now only made for fancy dress, but this looked like a proper maids outfit not a tacky fancy dress version. Stepping back the girl winced as pain lanced through her left shoulder. The Maid looked at it

"Oh it seems you are hurt let me fetch something for that while you change"

The tone remained flat, yet something made the girl look at the women properly for the first time, she looked to be in her mid twenties, she was fair skinned with dark blond hair in ringlets down her back she was slender and tall and had doll like beauty with full red pouting lips, china blue eyes a dainty little nose….the girl tore her gaze away and nodded, with that the women left. So with nothing else to do the girl went to the wardrobe and choose an outfit, then deciding it was ok to have a bath as this room seemed to be for her to use she headed in to the bathroom, she was too tired and achy to worry about how or why she was here or even where her friend was, for despite being unconscious a long time she felt she had not slept, as though she had lay senseless in total darkness for many hours.

Once she was in the bathroom she closed and locked the door and went over to the big bath, one of those ones you could sit in as it had a built in corner seat, and you could stretch out with plenty of room, it was deep enough that if you sat in it, it reached past your shoulders, though she obviously wouldn't have the water that high. Leaning toward the taps she turned on the hot and cold so they mingled together to form the right temperature to bathe in, looking at a long glass shelf near by she saw it was filled with bottles of bubble baths and essential oils, all her favourites too, a strange coincidence…..hopefully. She grabbed a bottle of lavender oil and Ylang-Ylang oil and poured a generous helping of both in to the bath watching the pattern it made on the waters surface; though it wasn't the horrible greasy looking pattern other oils would create. The fusing of the two essential oils crated a wonderful soothing scent and she stepped in to the bath turning the taps off she leant back and relaxed, their was a faint noise and she looked over to the door, a magazine had be slid beneath it she leaned out of the bath dried her hands on a near by towel and picked up the magazine…it was her favourite, that made her un easy but she chided her self and settled back once more, reading the magazine. This was so relaxing, so nice, all the tension fading away, soothing warmth, a blissful sensation, it was easy to forget where she was and what had happened and she let her mind wonder in to a day dream. She remained within her day dream until the water turned too cold, with a reluctant sigh she was drawn back to reality and reached for a towel after setting the magazine aside, she stood and draped herself in the towel and stepped out of the bath pulling out the plug and drying off then dressing. She had chosen a black skirt it was silk with cream lace trim and reached just above the knee, with it she wore below the knee black socks. calf high black platform boots, with a silver buckle on each boot where their was one strap going diagonal across the ankle, a cream long sleeve blouse over which she wore a tight deep blue corset. And then she un-braided her hair and combed it straight. Then headed back in to the bedroom

There she sat on the edge of the bed and noticing an adorable cuddly toy bunny she picked it up and hugged it to her. The maid came back in then and curtseyed.

"Dinner is served miss….if you'll follow me to the dining room…"

She said simply. The Girl stood and followed her out the bedroom door in to a long wide corridor. It was shaped like an arch way along the entire hall and the entire building was made of stone blocks like a castle. A royal blue velvet carpet ran the length of the centre of the hall, the walls were bare of paintings or any other décor, and there were just windows set in to the walls here and there, narrow stain glass windows. After a few minutes they reached the end of a hall and came to a long stair case, which was made of white marble flecked with grey and had the same carpet in the centre as that which was in the hall way. Both of them carried on down the stair's and in to the main hall which was similar to the other hall only much bigger and the place seem to have a lot of doors, they went through a set of double doors in to a rectangular room with a long high table surrounded by many chairs though their was only one place set. The table was made of mahogany and well cared for which was obvious from is lustrous shine, candle's in white gold holders were set all along the centre and the cutlery was made of silver, the plates and bowl's fine china and the drinking glasses were crystal. The girl thought wistfully that is was like being swept in to a movie. The carpet was a deep green and the walls had mahogany panelling on the lower half whilst the upper half was a beige colour. On the ceiling were images of cherubs and an elaborate gold and crystal chandelier hung from it. All this splendour made it easy to forget everything, how she shouldn't even be here and so on. She found herself thinking it would be nice to own all of this and then sniffed appreciatively at the dinner before her. Stomach growling she noted how good the food smelt; it was a veritable feast of roast chicken and all the trimmings. She tucked in and the food was soon gone, so excusing her self and thanking the maid who she discovered through strained awkward conversation was called Devia she went back to her room.

The dinner left her feeling very tired and dreamy. So changing in to her night dress (which had been cleaned and pressed) she climbed in to the luxuriously soft bed and fell asleep in seconds. That was when she started to forget everything about her life, leaving the house in search of her friend, how she had come to find herself here, how she needed to find her friend, she forgot it all and she wasn't even aware. Now false memories crept in to her mind like a poison mist. Deep asleep these memories became dreams tricking her in to thinking she'd lived here all her life. And then the dreams were rudely interrupted as she was shaken awake.

"Afina, AFINA, oh do wake up please its important"

The girl propped her self up on one elbow opening her eyes groggily

"Huh, wha… do I know you, what do you want sorry"

A girl stood their, she looked about 15, she wore the outfit of a Victorian servant and her face was smudged with soot.

"No you don't know me Afina, my name is Paige, I'm a servant here, oh your forgetting the truth, Devia slipped something in to your food, please remember, remember your true self, here this will help hold it close and go back to sleep"

Paige said hurriedly in a soft pleasant voice. She handed Afina a picture of her standing with a young man her age .And fled the room. Afina peered at the photo; it was taken in her home though she didn't recognise it or the young man but shrugging she did as the girl advised for something about the girl had appealed to her and made her decide to do as advised. Clutching the photo in her hands she settled them against her heart and fell asleep. As she slept her true memories came back gentle and pleasant like a quiet stream. And the guy in the photo was none other then her best friend who she should be searching for. In the morning she woke and dressed in the outfit she had worn the day before then headed down to the kitchen to make breakfast.

The Kitchen was a big old-fashioned place

With a big wooden table scrubbed meticulously clean, there was a chopping board on the table. There were kitchen counters made of wood, Vegetables hung in bunches from the ceiling as did herbs and plaits of garlic, their were jars of spices and baskets of fruit on the work tops, everything was very clean and the room smelt fresh. There was a big old fashioned cooking range in the corner with a coal bucket beside it. The fridge near by was massive and held a lot of food and there was a walk in freezer and a larder. Afina grabbed a fresh loaf of home made bread and carved off four thick slices with a bread knife, then spread them thickly with butter and carved come meat off a joint of boiled bacon, she made two sandwiches stuffed full with the ham them wrapped them up and put them to one side and made herself some toast, she ate it on the way back to her room, also carrying the sandwiches and a flask of milk she had grabbed before leaving the kitchen.

Back in her room she searched around and found an average sized zip up leather bag, she slipped the sandwich parcel in to it and the flask of milk and zipped it shut then left the room again, ready to search for her friend.

Afina began to wonder around, there were many hallways and they all looked similar; there were a lot of doors leading to other rooms as well. She painstakingly checked every room with no luck and decided to go outside to clear her mind, so finding a way out to the garden she ventured out.

There was a large shed near by, she could hear sorrowful whimpering, the sound pulled at her heart and she opened the door and went in, it was dark but she found an oil lamp in the very faint light coming in through a gap in the wall, their was a single match with the lamp and she lit it, the room was lit up and threw tall shadows up against the wall, In the corner something was curled up in a furry ball, Afina edged closer, it seemed to be a dog, the dog was trembling, it stood up growling half heartedly and somehow just by looking at its sad face she knew it was a girl, it was a black husky, a name popped in to her head

"Thorn, here girl, hush its ok, I wont hurt you like they have"

She said soothingly and took out one of the sandwiches holding it out to the hungry looking dog, the dog gingerly took the sandwich and ate it in seconds, she smiled and reached out, the dog let her pet it

"Thorn, that's you name isn't it girl"

The dog barked cheerfully as if agreeing, Afina saw it was tied up and so she untied the rope around its neck.

"Come on girl, we'll stick together and keep each other safe, maybe you can help me find my friend, but first things first lets get you fed and give you a drink"

She said whilst crouching down at Thorns level and ruffling her ears, thorn pressed her muzzle against Afina's hand and whined, Afina stood and left the shed and thorn followed, in fact she followed her all the way to the kitchen where Afina fed her plenty of meat and gave her plenty of water to drink. With the sweet young dog feed and having given her plenty of water Afina headed back to 'her room' to get something's. On the way back her injured shoulder pained and she realised Devia had never brought anything to tend to her shoulder. She soon reached her room and went inside closing the door.

She sat on her bed with a sigh and let Thorn jump up beside her, a quiet rustle had her look up and she saw Devia enter the room.

"Madam I forgot to tend to your shoulder let me do so immediately please"

She said, voice as monotone as ever. She went to Afina and lowered one side of her top after a nod of consent form her. The Devia opened a jar of Lavender, rosemary and peppermint salve to soothe the pain, ease the swelling and reduce the bruising. It was an extremely old method of treating injuries but effective and safe and as Afina herself had an interest in it she warmed a little towards Devia. Then memory of the previous night returned, of how Devia had 'drugged' her in to forgetting the truth. Looking at that woman now she sensed Devia had not done it through choice, clearing her throat she spoke once Devia had finished and place a compress over the shoulder and secured it in place.

"Devia….I wish to speak to you a moment please sit down and please answer me and honestly, you have nothing to worry about"

Devia for once showed emotion, nervousness flitted across her features. However she nodded and sat down

"Alright I will talk"

A hint of life entered her voice. Afina smiled at her

"Right well first off…I know you drugged me to forget my real memories and create false ones, I was angry at first but I don't believe you willingly did it……….Devia did someone make you do it"

Devia looked alarmed her hands which had been folded in her lap twisted together

"Yes I did that but your right I was made to do it by the master….you must obey him, he will punish if you disobey"

She started to tremble and Afina placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, your alright, I am guessing you wont be able to tell me who your master is"

Devia looked at her sadly smiling and wiped her eyes which brimmed with tears.

"You are very kind but I'm sorry I cant, I must leave now"

And with that she stood and left swiftly. Thorn had sat quiet and calm the whole time sensing Afina was calm and ok. Standing up she changed in to dark blue baggy jeans and a tight fitting white t-shirt and threw essential supplies in her bag then called to thorn.

"Come on girl, hopefully you can help me find my best friend".

And with that both went in to the hall closing the door. They searched rooms on and on until they came to a disused part of the vast house. Thorn began to growl, hackles rising. Afina could soon why. There was a figure at the end off the hall, a strange figure, she didn't know it was the same creature like man who had brought her here but she was still frightened and didn't know what to do, she stood frozen to the spot. All the while the man beast drew closer……and closer. What should she do….what could she do come to that…she wouldn't be able to fight, and she knew by instinct this thing was bad news. Looking at Thorn she sighed, Thorn whimpered catching the hem of Afina's skirt in her teeth she pulled her behind a large wide pillar. Ok that was ok for now but what if it still saw them. As if hearing Afina's thoughts Thorns pushed her front paws against the back of the pillar paws tapping a sequence on different parts their was a click and it swung open, thorn then pulled Afina in my her skirt and looked at the opened panel as if asking it to be closed and so Afina closed it firm but quietly. It was dim in here she could barely see but their was a long wining staircase leading down and so she set down it with thorn, reaching the bottom old wooden torches were lit an set in to the wall she took one and lifted it illuminating the way a little.

Now should they stay here and wait for that thing to pass or should they explore this long corridor. Deciding on the latter Afina set off once more with thorn. their were many turnings and stairs leading up as they spent ages walking along, And Afina knew Thorn would lead her the right way. A while later they came upon another staircase, thorn headed up it and Afina followed. There Thorn opened another Panel and they tumbled out in to the room Afina had been given. That would come in handy if necessary. Closing the Panel Afina sighed and sat on her bed.


End file.
